Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/447

* BRACEGIRDLE. 395 BRACHIAL. Mourning Bride. Among her characters were several tragic parts, but she was thought at her l)est in comedy. Her personal attractions were famous. C'ibber says of her: "Never was any woman in such general favor of her spectators, which to the last scene of her dramatic life she maintained by not being unguarded in her private character." The last curious phrase has been much quoted, and met with some debate. Mrs. Bracegirdle's reputation for a virtue then not too common upon the stage seems, however, to have iK'cn well sustained. She was the innocent cause of the death of Mountfort, who was killed by a jealous Captain Uill and Lord Moluin. Cib- lier adds, "Scarce an audience saw her that were less than half of tliem lovers, without a sus- l>ected favorite among them." It was half believed, nevertheless, that she was privately married to Congrcve. A purse of £800 was once given her by Lord Halifax and some friends as a testimonial to her character. She was noted Iwsides for her charity to the poor. Her re- tirement from the stage, in 1707, was owing to jealousy of the popularity of Anne Oldfleld. and she played thereafter but once, at Betterton's benefit in 1709. Consult: Doran, Annals of the Stage, ed. Lowe (London. 1888) ; Russell, Hep- resentative Actors (London, 1875); Baker. Eng- lish Actors (Xew York. 1879) ; and Gibber, Apology, chap, v., ed. Bellchambers (London, 1822). BRACELET (Fr.. armlet, from bras, hand, Lat. hracrhiuin, arm, Eng. brace). An ornament worn on the aim. generally at the wrist. Brace- lets and armlets have been used by every nation, both savage and civilized, from the earliest pe- riods to our own. They are frequently mentioned in Genesis, as worn both by men (x.xviii. 18) and by women (x.xiv. 30) ; by both the Hebrews and the surrounding nations ( Xum. .xxxi. 50 ). Similar ornaments were worn round the ankles, but they are stiginatized by Isaiah as marks of luxury (iii. 16). The lledes and Persians were remarkable, even among Asiatics, for their love for ornaments of this class. They wore not only bracelets and armlets, but earrings, collars, and necklaces, which often consisted of strings of ■aluable pearls, or were enriched with other jewels. These ornaments were used to indicate the rank of the wearer, and this use has con- tinued to be made of them in the East down to the present day. In Europe, bracelets and arm- lets were worn by both the classical nations and the barbarians from the earliest times. The Gauls wore them ; and the Sabines, in the legend of Tarpcia, had ponderous golden armlets on the left arm. .milets have been foimd at Troy, ]^Iycense, and in the early Italian graves. They were worn on both the lower and uj)per arm, and are frequently found in pairs. In historical times it was a mark of efTeminacj' for men to wear bracelets, but they are very frequently seen on women in works of art, and very many have been found in tombs. Some of these are ex- ceedingly beautiful specimens of the goldsmith's ■work. The favorite form seems to have been a spiral passing several times around the arm, and frequentlj' made to resemble a serpent. W'e also find simple rings, often open, with the ends in the form of animals' heads, sphimxes, etc. Al- most all modern forms can be found among the Greek and Etruscan jewelry. These armlets were Vol. hi— is. frequently arranged to contain amulets. Among the Komans. silver armlets (armiUw) were given to soldiciN or centurions as a mark of distinction. BRACHELLI, bra-Kel'l*. Hugo Fraxz von (1834-92). An Austrian statistician. He was bom in Brimn, and studied at the University of Vienna. He published the important statistical work Die Staaten Europas (1853). He was ap- pointed director of the statistical department of the Austrian ilinistry of Commerce in 1872. Among his more imporUmt works are Die dculsche Staatenkunde (1850) and IStatistisclie Hkizzcn (1892). BRACHET, bra'shfi', Augu.ste (1844 — ). A French pliihilogist. He was bom in Tours, and studied under Diez and Littrg. In 1870 he was appointed professor of Romance philologj' at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Paris, and from 1872 to 1874 he was professor of German in the Ecole Polrtechnique. His Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue franoaise (Paris, 1870), in two volumes, has frequently been reprinted. It has been translated into English, and has been intro- duced into the universities of Cambridge, Ox- ford. London, etc. His L'ltalie qu'on voit et ritiilie qu'on ne voit pas (1881) is one of sev- eral publications in which Brachet endeavors to show that the education of the youth of Italy is everywhere influenced by a pronounced antago- nism to France and the desire of a closer alliance with Gernianv. BRACHIAL (braTvi-ol) ARTERY (Lat. hrachialis, belonging to the arm, from brachium, arm ). The artery be- tween the armpit and the elbow, which is the continuation d o w n - ward of the axillary artery. The brachial artery at first run- along the inner side nt the arm, just behin ' the inneriuargin of tin biceps muscle and be- hind the great median nene. Here it maj- be pressed against the bone, in cases of bleed- ing from any point below. Then it passes across to the front and outer side of the arm. laits course, the brach- ial artery gives otl" ( 1 ) the superior profundi! branch, which wind- round tlie back of the arm - bone, and reap- pears on the outer side, where it join- some twigs coming up from the radial ar- tery; (2) an artery M-hich enters the bone to supply its medul- lary membrane; (3) the inferior profunda, which, running do i behind the internal condyle of the humerus, joins branches c(miing from the ulnar artery; (4) a short branch, the anasto- molica magna, which breaks up into numerous branches inosculating around the elbow. UK,CHI.VI. AKTEEV.